Bengaluru: Though Vijayanagar Assembly segment is represented by none other than Minister for Housing M Krishnappa, people here expect the elected representatives, including corporators, to fix the civic and infrastructure-related problems as early as possible.
The residents complain about choked storm water drains, clogged sewers, inadequate water supply, badly maintained parks and chain-snatchings in this area. The problem is it is represented by Congress MLA for the second term but majority of corporators are from BJP. There are eight wards in Vijayanagar assembly segment but five – Vijayanagar, Hosahalli, Aththiguppe, Hampinagar, and Deepanjali Nagar – wards are represented by the BJP corporators while two – Bapujinagar and Gali Anjaneya Temple – wards are represented by Congress and Kempapura Agrahara is won by an independent in the elections to Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) Council in 2015.
The interesting thing to be noted here is that M Krishnappa has managed not only to win from Vijayanagar but with a huge majority. Krishnappa defeated Pramila Nesargi of BJP by a majority of 38,625 votes in 2008. While Krishnappa polled 70,457 votes, Pramila Nesargi had managed to get 31,832 votes.
Krishnappa has defeated BJP candidate V Somanna with a majority of 32,642 votes in 2013. He got 76,891 votes while Somanna polled 44,249 votes in the elections to the Assembly held in 2013.
There are 2,68,580 voters in Vijayanagar assembly segment and among them, 1,41,678 are men while 1,26,809 are women and 93 are others.
The voters attribute Krishnappa’s resources as the secret for his win in the elections. “Our MLA is known as Layout Krishnappa. He has no shortage of funds. He is considered as the richest among the candidates who contest from this assembly segment,’’ says Sunil Kumar, a vegetable vendor at Vijayanagar vegetable market.
Some of the residents want elected representatives to clear the encroachment of footpath by shopkeepers near the Vijayanagar police station. “With vendors and hawkers occupying the footpath, the pedestrians are compelled to walk on the road. The BBMP authorities told us that they have already floated tenders inviting bidders for the construction of 44 shops near Indraprastha Hotel. They told us the shops will be air-conditioned. They want to accommodate the vendors occupying this footpath at the newly constructed market complex,’’ said Ramesh Gowda, a resident of Vijayanagar.
Meanwhile, there are rumours that BJP candidate Somanna may not contest from Vijayanagar in the next Assembly elections. Somanna, who is a known party hopper, joined the BJP in 2009 when B S Yeddyurappa was the chief minister.
Somanna, who was once a close follower of Yeddyurappa, is said to have fallen foul of the BJP leader of late. One of the reasons is that Somanna did not stand by Yeddyurappa when the latter launched his own political party, the KJP, in 2013. Ever since Yeddyurappa became the state BJP president, Somanna has been uncomfortable in the party and does not see a bright future for himself in the party.
If the rumours become true, the Congress will stand to gain by taking Somanna back. The party lost a prominent Lingayat leader in the old Mysuru region with the death of H S Mahadeva Prasad recently. Somanna will emerge as the Lingayat face of the Congress in the region if he joins the party, the sources said.
All in all, if BJP fails to retain Somanna or finding a suitable candidate, Congress candidate Krishnappa will have no problems to romp home with a huge majority in the next Assembly elections.
